Electric Riot

RYAN CHILCOAT

 Okay, I know I already [technically] have a post on Ryan Chilcoat, but if you look at the previous post featuring him, there's not any information on what his music style is or what songs you should definitely give a listen to, so this is pretty much the purpose for that. You may recognize Ryan Chilcoat as the cute, talented guitarist from Here is There, adding a unique and ultra melodic rhythm to the upbeat, groove that makes up the music style of Here is There. With Ryan Chilcoat's instrumental solo project, often featuring Matt Totty, who is also from Here is There, the style that is featured in Here is There remains with this project, but is more enhanced with peculiar beats and rhythms mixed in with Ryan's melodic arrangement to entice the listener throughout every track that Ryan has came out with thus far. Like, I said before, it is quite hard to capture of the essence of Ryan Chilcoat's music, but if you ever hear me talk about Ryan Chilcoat, the one word I always use when I describe how his music makes me feel is, euphoric. The way he plays the guitar is so enticing and captivating, any time I see him play live or even when I'm just listening to Ryan's music on my ipod, I just feel so moved by everything I'm hearing. It's really hard to find music that makes a person feel that way, and this is why I'm talking about Ryan Chilcoat right now, because his music is something special that is beyond words. So, with that said, you should definitely check out Ryan Chilcoat, and if possible try to catch one of his shows (If you live in the Tulsa area, he normally plays shows at the Gypsy Coffeehouse and The Blue Jackalope - Check his facebook page for show postings and details), and hopefully, you'll be as moved as I am by his music and understand how amazing and talented this guy is.
Songs to check out: Storm Pillow (can only be found on youtube, for now [Ryan Chilcoat, if you are reading this, you need to definitely record and post that song, I literally can't live without it]), Siren, Black Fog, A Nightful of Mares, Pink Beam, Cat's Eye View, Grey Orange, Whatever Floats, and Inthru.

Ryan Chilcoat recently posted a new album (Charm Spell) up for download on his blog. You can find that, among other albums, on his blog site. --------> Ryan Chilcoat's Blog    

GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY

 For anyone in Tulsa, OK or Austin, TX, if you already don't know this band, then there is something wrong with you, but you're in luck because I am here to save your deprived mind. Ghostland Observatory is an electro rock duo hailing from Austin, TX with upbeat, obscure music that can appeal to anyone. With Aaron Behrens on vocals and sometimes the guitar and Thomas Turner on the drums and synthesizers, this electro-rock duo brings a new sound to modern music that is definitely a breath of fresh air. With tunes like "Sad, Sad City", "Rich man", "Shoot 'em down", "Midnight Voyage", "Heavy Heart", and "HFM", you'll definitely find a variety of catchy dance tunes that'll definitely get your heart racing. Now listening to GLO on your ipod is one thing that can put you in a good mood and will more than likely cause you to dance around randomly, but their live show is a totally different thing. I've personally seen them 3 times, once at Diversafest 2008 and twice at the historic, Cain's Ballroom, and I must say those shows have to be some of my favorite memories and favorite shows that I've ever been to. If you ever get to catch a GLO show in your town, you definitely won't be disappointed, especially if the venue is very intiment. With all the strobe and laser lights, mixed with the Turner's synthesizer skills and Behren's smooth operator voice & super awesome dance moves, and all the people dancing around, you'll definitely have a blast and you'll definitely be a GLO show whore (like myself) for life.  Songs to check out: Currently Ghostland Observatory has 4 albums (delete.delete.i.eat.meat, Paparazzi Lightning, Robotique Majestique) including a new album that was released October 2010 (Codename: Rondo), and personally I would suggest you check out their albums in general since overall they are pretty awesome, but for individual song suggestions check out, Shoot 'em down, Cause a Scene, Rich man, Piano Man, Sad Sad City, Midnight Voyage, Heavy Heart, No Place For Me, HFM, Miracles, Body Shop, and Codename Rondo. 

RYAN CHILCOAT



So... normally I would write a full article on why you should listen to Ryan Chilcoat and how amazingly talented he is and stuff, but because I'm hella tired and my brain is fried, I'm just going to COMMAND you to listen to Ryan Chilcoat.

I'll write the full article later.

So...

I COMMAND YOU TO LISTEN TO RYAN CHILCOAT.

NOW!

Aside from his myspace, you can also find music on his blog, free downloads, woo! ---> Ryan Chilcoat's blog

For this week, I chose the West Virginia based metal band Byzantine to be featured. Byanztine was formed in 2000 by bassist Chris "Cid" Adams, guitarist Tony Rohrbough and vocalist/guitarist Chris "OJ" Ojeda after their former bands New Family and Temper split up. The band eventually picked up drummer Matt Wolfe to complete the line up years later after using a drum machine for demos in place of a drummer. Since West Virginia isn't exactly a heavy metal mecca, the band didn't really have much of a scene to gain attention. "We are quite alienated from any big scene," explains Ojeda. "Therefore, we tend to think for ourselves a lot more when writing material." Eventually, the band completed their demo album, Broadmoor. This demo managed to get the attention of Chris Adler, drummer of Lamb of God, who got Byzantine an opening slot on Lamb of God's East Coast tour. This tour got the band signed with LA based Prosthetic Records. The band then recorded their debut album The Fundamental Component. It was more raw, metalcore based and less polished then their later works. Still, it defined Byzantine's signature sound; thrashy , forward thinking and complex but still pure metal in the end. Liz Ciavarella from Metal Maniacs magazine uses formulations such as "Scrupulous time-shifts and strategically-placed off-beats; forever infectious grooves, breakdowns (Thrashdowns?) and ceaseless experimentation that end in intricate catchy Metal mantras" to describe Byzantine's style. Their next album ...And They Shall Take Up Serpents featured a much more mature sound for the band, due to their constant touring (also including an appearence on the main stage of  The New England Metal and Hardcore Festival in 2004) to promote their first album. This album featured even more complex songs and much stronger vocals, as opposed to the constant "screaming" vocals seen on The Fundamental Component. After a few line up changes involving a new man on bass, being Michael "Skip" Cromer, the band began another trek of constant touring until they released their 3rd album, Oblivion Beckons. This was truly Byzantine's magnum opus, picking up where "Serpents" left off. Sadly the bad split up four days after the release. However, they reunited in 2009 and 2010 for reunion shows and eventually it was decided by Ojeda that the band would continue on, however without the 2nd guitarist and founding member, Tony Rohrbough. He was replaced by Brian Henderson on guitar. Where Byzantine goes from here is not known. They are currently without a record label. A self produced album is expected from them at some point, unless another metal label decides to sign them. However, I think Byzantine is one of the most creative metal bands to come out of the States in quite some time. They managed to create amazingly complex songs while staying true to their heavy metal roots. Hopefully more and more metal fans will recognize and learn to appreciate their ingenuity.


Songs to check out: Hatfield, Justicia, Jeremiad, Stick Figure, Kill Chain, Stoning Judas and their entire Oblivion Beckons album. 




www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=18824


http://www.myspace.com/byzantine

HERE IS THERE




My spotlight artist for this week is Here is There. Here is There has been around the local music scene in Tulsa since 2007, forming with Zach Edmondson, Chris Gibbs, Matt Totty, and Ryan Chilcoat. Their first demo came out in August of 2007 and included songs like, "Fluma", "Just A Rainbow?", "Mister Know", and "Versus." Their sound at this time can be described as unique and diverse mixed with some subtle juxtaposition. With Zach's wailing and yet soothing vocals accompanied with the keyboard mixed in with the wailing sound of Ryan's guitar, in which his playing can be compared to that of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, and with the major support of Chris' loud and yet mellow playing on the drums and the psychedelic and yet soft bass lines by Matt, Here is There's sound was like nothing that was going on in the music scene so hearing them for the first time was like a breath of fresh air. In 2008, they released 2 EPs, A Dreams and Disconnected On, in which the sound from their 2007 demo only progressed and got even better. Although in 2009 they went on hiatus for a bit taking a break for some personal time, however when they came back in 2010, they would return stronger than ever. At the beginning of 2010, they had a new member, Victor Infante, who was a great enhancer to their sound. Taking on vocals with Zach, Victor's rhymes mixed in with new back beats and super awesome dance skills added in to the same Here is There sound from a year ago, Here is There's music got even more better, in which at this time, I honestly didn't think they could get any better since to me their sound was already perfect. With songs like Kwestions + Q'ancers, Animalesque, and Th' Horr'r, Here is There's performances became something like no other.
Seeing this band live is something I enjoy doing and is something I try to do often because of the energetic and psychedelic feel I get from seeing them perform. In way, it's quite euphoric since they have the right sound to make anyone feel care free and forget about what's going on outside of where they are playing. So definitely this is a band you NEED to check out, and if possibly catch a show of there's since I'm sure it'll be quite rememorable.

Songs to check out: (Old music) Fluma, Counting The Stars Blindfolded, Somewhere I won't Get. (New Music) Greedy Nature, Kwestions + Q'ancers, Animalesque, and Who Was That?? Also check out their blog that has all their music to download for free. You can check that out HERE

For my first entry on this blog, I selected the rock band Hurt to be featured in my Spotlight Artist of the Week. Hurt is something of an unconventional rock band in the radio rock world. Instead of taking the easy route and writing bonehead songs about girls, drugs and other modern rock cliches, the band decided to branch out and write musically complex songs with lyrics dealing with depression, existential crisis, and allusions to references to Bell's Theorem and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principal. So this is definitely not your average rock band. Hurt hails from Virginia but has since relocated to Los Angeles. The band was originally a four piece consisting of J. Loren Wince (vocals, guitar, violin), Paul Spatola (guitar, piano), Joshua Anseley (bass) and Evan Johns (drums, piano) but have since upgraded to a five piece band after the departures of Josh and Evan left the band due to personal issues. Rek Mohr and Victor Ribas have respectively filled their positions. Michael Roberts also joined the band to play rhythm guitar. The band was originally signed to Capitol Records from 2005 to 2007 to release their first two albums, simply titled Vol. I and Vol. II. Despite scoring hit songs on rock radio with tracks like Ten Ton Brick, they were dropped by Capitol in 2008 due to budget cuts but that didn't stop Hurt. They returned in 2009 with their newest album, aptly titled Goodbye to The Machine. Each Hurt album is a real journey. Vols I & II is a good place to start if you wish to get into Hurt. Both albums can be thought of as a double album, the last track on Vol. I is a seamless transition into the first track on Vol. II. The highly emotional songs mixed with strong vocals and thought provoking lyrics makes for a highly enjoyable experience that you can go back to and listen to for basically eternity. Give this band a listen and give them the support they deserve!

Songs to check out:  Pills, Rapture, Alone With The Sea, Unkind, Forever, Dreams Away, Flowers, Aftermath,Overdose.

http://www.hurtband.com/

Gemini Ryan



My spotlight artist for the week is Gemini Ryan. Gemini Ryan is a different kind of artist that one can easily fall in love with. Originally from Florida, he made his way to California and only progressed from there. His music style mixes hip-hop with rock to create revolutionary lyrics that can open even the most "blind" person's eyes. Though his style doesn't end here. He also has songs that make you hit the dance floor or songs that can "get you in the mood." This array of styles can easily attract any lover of any genre which is probably why I personally got into Gemini Ryan. So check him out, you'll be glad you did.

Songs to check out: James Dean (Bang The River), Get High, Swing, and Soul.